GILBERTSVILLE — The depth of the Spring-Ford golf team has been well documented over the course of this year.

That said, the Rams’ combination of quality and quantity was never more apparent than on Thursday afternoon.

With the Pioneer Athletic Conference team championship on the line against Boyertown at Gilbertsville G.C., Spring-Ford coach Jeff Mast had to cringe when he saw the scorecard of Rams No. 1 player John Foley, who struggled to a 10-over 45.

No matter.

Thanks to dominant efforts from their No. 2 through No. 5 players, the Rams cruised to a 191-203 victory over the Bears.

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Matt Keim and Jack Andrews each fired 1-over 36s and Bennett Detweiler (38) and Eric Rowell (39) also broke 40 in the somewhat soggy conditions as Spring-Ford brought home its first PAC-10 title since 2002.

“I was worried,” Mast said after hearing Foley’s score. “Matt Keim and Jack Andrews stepping up was huge for us.

“We were hoping to get five guys in the 30s. That’s what I thought we had to do, and we almost did that.”

Keim, a sophomore, knocked a 6-iron to within 15 feet and drained the birdie putt at the 188-yard, par-3 No. 5, and was actually 1-under until making double bogey at the par-4 ninth.

“I just felt like I hit a lot of greens,” Keim said. “My irons were really good.”

Andrews, playing at No. 5, rode a hot putter to his season-best round.

He birdied the par-5 No. 6 and was actually 1-under until bogeying the final two holes.

“We practice really well,” Mast said. “I tell them all the time if we can do what we do in practice, we won’t have any trouble (in matches). I know that’s easier said than done, but they’ve been doing it the last couple matches.”

Lamar Saxon led the Bears with a 38; eighth man Evan Farkosh shot 39; and Carlo Barrasse, Dylan Miller and Andrew Grofe each carded 42s for the Bears, with Travis Poley and Zach Strohl each coming in with 45s and Cam Long at 47.

“I told them in the van that if we can get 205 or less, it could be pretty close,” said Boyertown coach Mark Takacs, whose squad was seeking its first PAC-10 crown since 2008, “but when I saw they had four scores in the 30s (from the first five), I knew we didn’t have the kind of depth to overcome that. If it was two and two (players from each team in the 30s), it could have gone either way.”

It went the Rams’ way thanks to a consistent, talented and young lineup that has just one senior among its first five players.

“It shows we’ve got a good team right now,” said Keim, “and we’re going to have a pretty good team next year as well.

“A lot of times this year, three of our top four guys would count (among the top five scores), then at least two guys from our bottom four would count, too.”

“Everybody on the team is pretty good,” echoed Andrews. “We can all shoot sub-40 rounds.”

“To be honest, they were my preseason pick,” Takacs said of the Rams.

Boyertown, Spring-Ford and Methacton wound up finishing in a three-way tie for first at 7-2, with the Bears (who edged the Rams by a stroke at Hickory Valley) earning the top seed via tiebreaking criteria.

The Bears advanced to the final by defeating fourth seed Upper Perkiomen 199-217 in Wednesday’s semifinal at Hickory Valley thanks to a pair of even-par 36s from Saxon and Barrasse.

Spring-Ford, whose other league loss was also away (to Perkiomen Valley at Raven’s Claw), also showed it can thrive at a course other than its home base of Turtle Creek.

“It was nice to see that today,” Mast said. “You have to be able to take the show on the road. Good teams have to do that, and today we did that.”

“We have a lot of good teams in this league. Methacton, Boyertown, Owen J. Roberts. ... This score could have very easily been the other way had we played it tomorrow.”

NOTES

The golf season continues with the District 1 Boys and Girls Tournaments next week. The boys tourney will be held Tuesday and Wednesday at Turtle Creek, with the girls tourney being contested at Gilbertsville.